User Reviews

At first this movie looks to be one of those now-unwatchable "youth culture" films of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the pop music, mop haircuts on the boys, and other fads. The early scenes with the seagull appear to be symptomatic of such movies. The bird supposedly symbolizes innocence and freedom, and the three youths share in these qualities by rescuing it.

Then comes the disillusionment. It turns out that the seagull is not a symbol, just a bird, a wild creature. After it bites Sandy (Barbara Hershey), she secretly crushes it to death with a rock. Goodbye innocence, hello cruelty.

There is another, more profound death mentioned, though not shown,in the film, that of the mother of the girl Rhoda (Catherine Burns), as recounted by her daughter. An expert swimmer, she was drunk when she undertook a challenging night-time swim on a dare. She was killed, and Rhoda spit on her grave because of her anger at being left alone. If the death of the seagull is the result of cruelty, the death of Rhoda's mother is the result of her selfish, reckless pursuit of fun, without regard for its effect on others.

Reckless pleasure-seeking is in fact the order of the day for the parents of all four young people in the film. Eventually we see plenty of the same behavior on the part of Sandy, Peter, and Dan; often it is combined with cruelty. The three kids tease and taunt Rhoda, they show contempt for her "date" Anibal and abandon him to be beaten by thugs, and ultimately they force Rhoda to submit to gang rape.

Even Peter (Richard Thomas), who is an imaginative, seemingly sensitive boy who has become fond of Rhoda and treats her kindly, joins in violating her. As Rhoda previously pointed out, around Sandy and Dan he becomes a different person.

The movie is an indictment of a society obsessed with pleasure, fun, and entertainment, with little sense of responsibility. It's a powerful, disturbing movie.

Two teens (Bruce Davison & Richard Thomas) come across the enigmatic Barbara Hershey caring for a sick seagull on a beach. She seems earthy, loving and caring. She's also unusually cruel. The boys are soon infatuated. Things get complicated when a fourth teen (another girl)joins the mix. As Rhoda, Catherine Burns is awkward, precocious and very sensitive (something Hershey is repulsed by). Frank Perry directed this totally engaging coming-of-age film and it's one of the best of his spotty career. He coaxes thoroughly natural performances from the three leads and a miraculous one out of Burns. Ironically, Burns, who received the film's only Oscar nomination, did NOT go on to have a career nearly as substanitive as Hershey, Davison and Thomas. The perceptive screenplay is by Eleanor Perry. Filmed on Fire Island, but the film could have taken place anywhere.

*****SPOILERS***** I thought Last Summer would be like a bad TV movie and was watching it for the camp factor alone, but somewhere it turns into a real, offbeat story about teenage characters experimenting with their boundaries during their summer vacation.

Sometimes the movie was like a morality play. And I think that must be one of it's main themes: society left to do what feels good and natural (i.e. the '60s) will become corrupt, violent, and self-destruct.

Sandy (Barbara Hershey), Peter (Richard Thomas), Dan (Bruce Davison), and Rhonda (Catherine Burns) are the main characters who play around the beach while their parents ignore them and act as irresponsible as their children. Dan and Peter--watch for homo-erotic undertones between the two that I thought was quite brave for the times--lust after Sandy, but she only flirts and teases with them. Sandy is sadistic, killing their rescued seagull--and moving on to her next victim, the geeky, naive Rhonda.

Barbara Hershey, the dark beauty, plays her part well as the manipulative, evil Sandy--who leads Thomas and Davison to rape Rhonda (and possibly kill her? The ending is too cryptic.). Her figure is startling as well as Catherine Burns', but Rhonda is suppose to be a little pudgy--you never see actresses weigh that much now. You can imagine if they made this movie today they would cast Reese Witherspoon as Rhonda! And she would do something like gain 10 pounds to make the character more real. It is also fun to see Richard Thomas getting away from his "John Boy" stereotype.

WARNING: Before you watch "Last Summer", you really need to be warned that the movie is quite adult and has a very traumatic rape scene. Many will find this too troubling--and perhaps it could bring back your own traumatic past experiences as you watch. I am not saying not to watch it--just be aware.

As far as the movie goes, it's well made but quite difficult to watch--not just because of the rape but because the characters are quite often jerks--very unlikable jerks. It is set at a beach community on Long Island. Three young people (Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas and Bruce Davison) meet and soon become friends. However, it soon becomes apparent that there is a lot of sexual tension in these new friendships and a ménage à trois of sorts is in the making. From a voyeuristic point of view, the film is rather stimulating....but any sexual excitement on the part of the viewer may quickly disappear as you begin to see that these people (when together) become jerks. It's as if alone they are normal but together their inhibitions and sense of morality diminishes. Later, when they meet a nerdy and less attractive fourth member of their little group (Catherine Burns), this becomes all the more apparent and the three original members exploit this very vulnerable new member.

The acting is competent and the story is decent because it is unique and explores very dark aspects of supposedly 'typical' teens. And, fortunately, while the film has very explicit content, the director manages to hide most of what occurs through creative filming and it is not necessarily exploitational--just very, very dark. Frankly, I did not particularly enjoy the movie--it was a very tough viewing. But, it was well made and hence my overall score of 5.

A strikingly clear-eyed and nonjudgmental portrait of adolescent explorations into sex, friendship, loyalty and cruelty which deftly captures the essential amorality and irresponsibility of that uncertain period of one's life with considerable candor and an admirable dearth of sentiment. Three carefree, unsupervised teenagers -- conniving, domineering, flirtatious strumpet Sandy (a deliciously wicked Barbara Hershey, wearing a skimpy bikini outfit that shows off a lot of her toothsome, voluptuous figure), aggressively libidinous Dan (Bruce Davison in his solid film debut), and the slightly more thoughtful Peter (a strong turn by Richard Thomas) -- become involved in a playfully steamy menage a trois on Long Island's tranquil Fire Island resort. The two guys are both completely infatuated with Sandy and vie with each other to seduce her. The rowdy trio engage in a wild group grope in a movie theater, drink beer, smoke grass, nurse a wounded seagull back to health, bask in the sun's unwavering rays, and cut loose during an especially crazed impromptu heavy petting/hair washing session. Their delicate, uninhibited fantasy world gets upset when pallid, pudgy, deeply uptight and morally responsible plain jane Rhoda (superbly played by the endearingly ungainly Cathy Burns, who deservedly got an Oscar nomination for her first-rate performance) enters their precious circle and steals Peter's attention away from Sandy. Eleanor Perry's astute, keenly observed script offers many painfully truthful moments as the gawky, confused main characters grapple with mortality (Rhoda's monologue about the untimely death of her mother is simply incredible), intense, unfulfilled sexual longings, sexual rivalry, and feelings of extreme callousness. Directed with great tact and restraint by Frank Perry, gorgeously shot in dewy, creamy, golden-hued soft focus by Gerald Hirshfeld (the expansive beachside scenery is positively beautiful), and marvelously acted by a fine cast, "Last Summer" rates as a quietly potent, poignant and disturbing sleeper.

Not the greatest film I've seen but it stays in your head forever. I saw it when I was almost 17. Barbara Hershey tops as a beautiful but cruel teen, rescuing an injured seagull and killing it later. Like the other readers, I wonder what happened to Catherine Burns, who played the nerdy intruder. In my high-school dramatics class, one girl told about Last Summer in a way that cracked everybody up (it has to do with the end so I won't mention it; one spoiler in this review is enough). This was a timely film that showed the dark side of hedonistic adolescence. It also has some funny moments, though I never got over the bird's fate (I hate cruelty to animals more than most anything in the world). I could see why the filmmaker felt the need to include that, to show how these nice-looking kids are both charming and mean. One good funny scene takes place when they're at the movies and Sandy is sitting between Peter and Dan. Another good scene (I'm trying not to add another spoiler) has Sandy talking with one of the guys and the guy says "I'm just thinking of them now."

There isn't anything very good in this film. The screenplay is flippant and shallow with a 60's style beach blanket bingo veneer containing pointless cruelty and rape. The performances from Hershey and Burns are good. Bruce Davidson gives no hint that he will become excellent though. And Richard Thomas, is Richard Thomas. What you see is what you get: cute, and serviceable as an actor. The killing of the pet seagull, and the gang rape at the end of the film, only make any sense in the plot if they are presented as the early manifestations of three burgeoning sociopathic co-serial killer/rapists practicing on their first victims. These types often begin with animals, the seagull, and then move to human victims, Catherine Burns. But that is not how this story is presented or written. It is just poured into your lap as "kids can be so mean sometimes". Well, there's "mean", and then there's "gang rape". And, if you're the ring leader in a gang rape, Barbara Hershey, this is just the beginning. But instead of the creepy scene, as in Hannibal Lecter at the pay phone foreshadowing the worst yet to come, this creepy little film just ends with all the rapists walking into a beautiful sunset, role credits... It should also be noted that the sound mixing is total crap. The ambient music covered up the dialogue in several places. And considering this screenplay, that may have been the point. If you like young hot bods in tight swimwear and don't mind pointless cruelty, this films for you. Count me out. I'd rather watch a lion take down a Zebra on Wildlife Kingdom. At least the violence I'm grossed out by there has a useful purpose in the food chain.

Three teens are spending the summer on Fire Island -- Thomas, Davison, and Hershey. I just love to see the young folks having fun and frisking around. And, man, they are radiantly happy, all sun tanned and drinking Heinekin's and doing a little grass and playing "Truth" and looking mighty handsome, all three of them. There's no jealousy between the boys, although they both have the hots for Hershey. But then there's no reason for jealousy because she lets both of them feel her up at the same time in the movie theater while watching a sexy Swedish movie.

There enters the picture Catherine Burns, not from New York but from Ohio. She's not ugly but she takes a little getting used to, next to these exemplars of bronzed and well-bred youth. She's shapeless and wears braces. Her hair isn't fashionably groomed and is configured like a Nazi helmet. On the vast white sand of Fire Island's beaches, her pale, plump figure is the only body that shines with the sheen of sun-blocker. She's moral too. She'd never take off her top and glow with self satisfaction as the two boys stare at her, while Hershey revels in their admiration.

The three sort of adopt her and try to teach her how to enjoy herself in accordance with their lights. She doesn't smoke or drink; she doesn't swim; she doesn't do dope; she looks and sounds like an adult and she has adult sensibilities.

So, one hot day, at Hershey's urging, the four of them go into the bushes and Burns is raped by the boys and left behind, with the sun a blistering crimson as it settles into the haze.

What is this movie about? Better to ask what was going on in 1968 when it was shot. There was a revolution under way in certain sectors of social space -- well-off white kids, mostly. The movie illustrates to the general audience what these spoiled narcissists were up to when they weren't carrying placards on the streets although, to be sure, not an iota of the outside world and its problems is ever mentioned. They're simply on the hedonic treadmill.

Whether it intends to or not, the movie also gives us a glimpse into human nature, which is not so flattering. Here are three kids who have everything they need and are free to do what they want. (There is hardly an adult to be seen.) And the world turns Hobbesian. Self indulgence is redefined to include inflicting pain on others. The Summer of Love is behind us -- and forget Flower Power.

That's what I got out of it anyway. That and the gradual suspicion that these teen agers of 1968 are now sixty-year-old urban bourgeois who are screeching about not wanting to pay taxes to support government freeloaders. They need the moolah for next year's BMW, the one with the 20 mm. cannon on top. Yes, Sandy, there is a certain strain towards diachronic consistency in cohorts. Some of us manage to grow older without really growing up.

I now step down from behind the pulpit. No, please. Save the applause. Just donate your next paycheck to Medecins Sans Frontiers. Thank you.

Barbara Hershey, running around clad in that skimpy bikini, is enough to generate a gonadal glow in any normal young man and tempt him to felony. Richard Thomas is the sensitive kid who kisses Burns and chats seriously with her, but only when they're alone, and at the end he turns as savage as the slightly beef-brained Davison.

The three of them had been reckless, selfish and cruel before, getting a nice Puerto Rican man drunk and leaving him to be beaten by a couple of thugs. And earlier, having saved the life of a sea gull, Hershey bashes its head in when it accidentally bites her finger. You have to govern that human nature carefully.

The performances are pretty good. I could believe each of the individual actors, and Burns is maybe marginally more convincing than the others. But the script has its weak points. NOBODY could be as frisky as the three kids at the beginning, and the transition to barbarity at the end is a little too quick. Pretty scenery though -- the summer beaches.

I enjoyed this film, even with the disturbing ending. I grew up on this beach every summer, and the depictions were very realistic, especially the nonchalant way the kids were left to roam freely with no adults, as Fire Island was known to be a "safe" place for kids. I knew people like each of these characters growing up, and I felt they were quite realistic.

The locations in this film are as follows: The beach scenes and the house are in Seaview, NY, on Fire Island. The scenes in the woods are further east, between Point of Woods, NY and the Sunken Forest, on Fire Island. The scenes with the sailboat are shot near East Fire Island, in the Great South Bay. The dance club and the ferry dock on Fire Island are in Ocean Beach, NY. The movie theater and the restaurant are on Main Street in Bayshore, NY. The ferry dock on the mainland is the Fire Island Ferries terminal on Maple Ave in Bayshore NY.

Three obnoxious teenagers on Fire Island during a particular summer form a bond that leads to an unbelievable ending.

Nothing like a story about 3 teens, all of whom apparently come from wealthy families who pal around during the summer and meet Rhoda, a depressed teen, far from beautiful, who is basically in a world of her own.

Catherine Burns, as Rhoda, tells in detail the tragic drowning of her mother, 5 summers ago and this telling brought her a best supporting actress Oscar bid.

The unbelievable, tragic ending and the callous disregard of a human being is haunting. Otherwise, we're subjected to summer-time carefree leisure which to be perfectly honest is quite boring after a while.